It’s true that we buy with our eyes. Presentation is everything when it comes to food merchandising. Certainly, retail store chains know this is true and many have really upgraded their meat departments over the last decade. I sadly say many and not all, because some retail meat departments are in want of some serious upgrades.

Out West, most of the retail store chains and independents have remodeled their stores over the past few years and the produce departments at most shine bright. Many remodels are made to look like a farmers’ market with faux wood floors, faux wooden bins and pictures hung from the ceiling of the farm families that raise fruits and veggies in the region.

As for the meat department remodels, some chains have really gone all out to make the meat department look as good or better than the adjacent produce department. Savvy meat marketers have also redone the floors and made the once white and sterile, blah looking meat department have a warmer more welcoming feel. Those offering full-service meat cases spend a lot of time artfully prepping those cases each day to make them really beautiful, warm, and welcoming, and some have an old-fashioned meat market theme with the added decorum.

In Colorado, Whole Foods does a great job, as do some locally owned stores like Tony’s Meats, Lever’s Locavore, Lucky’s, Sam’s and Edwards. If I had to pick one winner in Colorado, I’d say Tony’s Meats wins for locally owned and Whole Foods wins for national chain for having the best meat departments with full-service cases and meat cutters trained to answer customer questions about the meat and seafood they sell.

In Arizona, I’d vote for AJ’s Markets. In Southern California, I like Gelson’s. In Texas, I think HEB does a great job with the displays and meat department overall experience. Their Central Market stores in particular have beautiful meat counters. In Ohio, my favorite is Heinens.

As criteria for evaluating what stores we should nominate for regional award winners for best meat departments, we should consider the following:

Cleanliness and overall look of the meat department
Warm, welcoming colors and decorum
Display case
Wide Selection
Friendly meat department workers with extensive product knowledge
Enthusiasm of the meat department staff to great customers and answer questions

Who did I leave out?

What about Costco? Costco sells a lot of meat, no doubt about it, and the overall quality of the meat they sell is excellent. They sell on meat quality and price, but they lack the variety found and local meat shops as Costco tries to keep their SKUs to a minimum.

The national chains like Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, Kroger, Albertsons/Safeway sell a lot of meat, but their meat cases are predominantly self-serve oriented. Retailers suffer with finding good quality help like many other businesses, and so more case-ready self-serve packaging can be found all the time.

Is there still a need for small meat shops?

My all-time favorite meat departments are found in Mexico. For those who’ve traveled to Mexico and seen the amazing way meat is displayed in full-service meat cases, you know what I mean. If I owned a retail store chain, I’d send my meat department managers to Mexico to visit a dozen stores in any of the big cities to understand all a meat department can be for overall customer experience. My favorites are La Comer and HEB.

But in Mexico, more meat is sold in local meat boutique meat shops than in retail stores. At your local neighborhood carniceria in Mexico, they likely know your name and what you like to eat. You have the local butcher cut two small chuck steaks for the kids, a large ribeye with an extra-large spinalis for dad and a petite tender, silver skin completely off for mom. And it will cost you less, not more, than buying meat in retail chain store. Many families go to their local butcher shop every day or several times per week.

I’ve seen lines up to 15 people deep at these local meat shops and up to five cashiers. The butcher shops have artful displays of meat, all sold full-service with eye-to-eye direct communication with the butcher. It’s a very personal experience.

Are you noticing that meats are being merchandised differently than, say, a decade ago in your local stores?

Retail Meat Cases: Successes and Failures

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